Your Wages Just Went Up 4.75%. Have Your Prices?

If you haven't looked at your price list in the last twelve months, now is the moment.

From 1 July 2026, the Fair Work Commission's Annual Wage Review lifts minimum pay rates under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award (MA000005) by 4.75 per cent. That's not a suggestion. It's a legal obligation. And it applies from the first full pay period on or after 1 July — which for most salons means this week.

Your costs just went up. The only question is whether your prices went up with them.

What the new rates actually mean

The 2026 Annual Wage Review decision was announced on 2 June 2026. Modern award wages increase by 4.75 per cent across the board — the largest increase in the current cycle.

For the Hair and Beauty Award, that means rates like this:

Always verify your exact rates using the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool or download the official Pay Guide for MA000005. If you're unsure, call the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.

And it doesn't stop at the hourly rate. Casual loading, Saturday penalties, Sunday penalties (2× base rate), public holiday rates (2.5× base rate) — all of them lift by the same percentage. If you run Saturday shifts or carry casuals on your roster, the real dollar impact compounds fast.

There's one more change landing at the same time: payday super. From 1 July 2026, superannuation must be paid on the same day as wages — not quarterly. The SG rate is 12 per cent. If you've been running super payments on the old quarterly schedule, your cashflow model just changed.

The maths most salon owners don't run

Labour is typically your largest cost. In a well-run salon it sits between 38 and 45 per cent of revenue. That ratio doesn't stay still when wages go up and prices don't.

Here's a simple example. Say your salon turns over $20,000 a week and your labour bill sits at $8,000 — 40 per cent.

A 4.75 per cent increase on that labour bill adds $380 per week to your costs. That's $19,760 per year.

If your prices don't move, that $19,760 comes directly off your net profit.

For a salon making $60,000 net profit, that's a one-third reduction in your take-home. Not because you made worse decisions. Not because fewer clients walked through the door. Just because you didn't adjust the price of a haircut.

This is the trap. Revenue looks the same. The appointment book looks full. But the number that actually matters — what's left after you've paid everyone — quietly bleeds out.

Why 5% is the right number right now

The award went up 4.75 per cent. We recommend reviewing your prices by 5 per cent.

The extra 0.25 per cent isn't greed. It's reality. Wages are not the only cost that's moved in the last twelve months. Product costs, rent, insurance, utilities, and consumables have all crept upward. A 5 per cent price review gives you room to absorb the award increase and recover some of the ground you've already lost on everything else.

For most services, a 5 per cent increase is a modest dollar amount. On a $100 haircut, it's five dollars. On a $250 colour service, it's $12.50.

Clients don't leave over $5. They leave when the experience doesn't match the price. If your service is worth what you're charging, a modest annual adjustment is completely sustainable.

What's not sustainable is absorbing every cost increase in silence and wondering, six months from now, why the busy salon isn't profitable.

Want to see exactly what a 5 per cent increase does to your bottom line? Run the numbers in our free Pricing & Margin Calculator — it takes about two minutes.

How to apply the increase without the awkward conversation

You don't need to send a dramatic email, post a lengthy explanation on Instagram, or apologise for running a business. A professional, matter-of-fact update is all it takes.

On your website and booking system: update your pricing page this week. Don't announce it — just update it. Most clients check your prices online before they book. A current price list is basic professionalism.

At the front desk: brief your team before the first appointment lands. Every stylist and receptionist should know the new prices. Nothing undermines client confidence faster than inconsistent pricing at checkout.

On social media (optional): if you want to acknowledge it, keep it brief and confident. Something like: "We've updated our pricing from 1 July, in line with the national wage increase. We're proud to pay our team properly — and we're grateful for your continued support." That's it. No over-explaining required.

With long-term clients: your best clients understand that a business that pays people fairly is a business worth supporting. If someone pushes back, the conversation is simple: "Wages went up 4.75% nationally this week. We've moved our prices by 5%. We'd rather be honest about it than absorb it quietly and compromise on service."

Your July price review checklist

Before you move on, work through these six steps:

1. Pull your full service menu. Every service. Not just the main ones. Toning, treatments, add-ons, retail — check everything.
2. Calculate the 5 per cent increase. Round to the nearest $5 where it makes sense. Clean numbers are easier to quote and less likely to create friction at checkout. Use our Pricing & Margin Calculator to do this quickly.
3. Update your booking software. Fresha, Timely, Shortcuts, Kitomba — whatever you're running. Update prices in the system before 1 July appointments are completed and charged.
4. Update your website. If your pricing is listed publicly, it needs to match what you're charging at the desk.
5. Confirm your payroll. Check that your payroll software or provider has updated the award rates. If you're running manually, download the new Pay Guide from fairwork.gov.au and verify every classification you employ.
6. Check your payday super setup. From 1 July, super must be paid with wages. Confirm your payroll system or bookkeeper has this configured correctly — the ATO's payday super page has the details.

This happens every year. Most owners only fix half of it.

Every 1 July, wages go up. And every 1 July, a significant number of salon owners update their payroll and don't touch their prices.

That gap — the space between what it costs to run the salon and what clients are charged — is where profit disappears.

We've been running salons since 2003. We've watched owners work harder every year, build a full column, keep clients happy, and still wonder why there's nothing left at the end of the month. Nine times out of ten, the answer isn't the economy or the clients or the industry. It's that prices haven't kept pace with costs.

The award increase is a prompt. Use it.

Review your prices. Update your menu. Brief your team. And then get back to what you do best — because a salon that charges correctly is a salon that can afford to keep doing it.

Not sure where your pricing sits right now?

Use our free Pricing & Margin Calculator to check whether your current prices are covering your costs — and what a 5 per cent increase actually does to your bottom line. It takes about two minutes and costs nothing.

Or if you want to work through your full cost structure with someone who's been on the salon floor since 2003 — book a free Discovery Call and let's look at the numbers together.

The new Hair and Beauty Industry Award (MA000005) rates apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2026. Estimated new rates in the table above are calculated by applying the 4.75% increase to confirmed July 2025 rates — always verify your exact rates via the Fair Work Pay and Conditions Tool or by calling the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94. This article is general business guidance only and does not constitute legal or financial advice.